


Day 203

by Josh_the_Bard



Series: A Year in Kirkwall [203]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:33:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25456264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh_the_Bard/pseuds/Josh_the_Bard
Series: A Year in Kirkwall [203]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589257
Kudos: 1





	Day 203

Thrask made his way down to the Alienage with some degree of trepidation. Local opinion on the templars was at an all time low. He didn’t think he would be attacked but you never went to sleep feeling good about yourself after a day of people hurling insults at you.

It didn’t help his self esteem that Thrask couldn’t really fault them for their hatred. Meredith’s leadership had been good for the templars and for Meredeth but almost no one else. He was here by request of a few of the residents to investigate the existence of an apostate hiding out in the area. It was incredibly rare for the elves to reach out to the templars, even when it came to maleficar. In fact, the last time might have been four years ago when Fenryal’s mother had tried to send him to the circle.

Guardsman Brennan met him at the gates.

“Welcome templar,” she said. “I hope you don’t intend to march in dressed like that.”

Thrask looked down at his armor. The gleaming symbol of the cleansing light of the maker, a symbol no one in Thedas could mistake. He had been a templar so long he almost never wore anything else. He had Chantry robes for off duty hours but that was about it. The order didn’t really have much in the way of subtle, that was what the seekers were usually for. He shrugged and the guardswoman sighed. She led him to one of the Alienage houses where an elven woman sized him up.

“Well if you go in looking like that the ‘apostate’ will disappear faster then Starkhaven nug,” she tisked as she said the word apostate, as though she doubted the reports.

“I heard this woman was a mage on par with the Rivani seers,” Thrask ventured. He had very little concrete information. The woman, Brennan introduced her as Wendy, looked at Thrask distanfully.

“So she claims,” said Wendy. “Some of Noll’s clothes might work. Though they will be quite tight. Why a mage with the powers of a seer would be here taking coppers from grieving mothers is beyond me.” 

Thrask retired to a back room to change. He felt awkward about out of place in the simple clothes he had been given and they were constricting around the chest and waist. He kept his light cloak which was the maroon of the Kirkwall chantry, but without the rest of the outfit would not stand out too much and would hide the poor fit of the tunic.

The potential apostate was running a sort of shop in an abandoned home. Thrask felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck as he entered. If a fight broke out his clothing would restrict his monument, and without his armour or sword… But a magical fight in such a densely populated area would be disastrous either way.

“Welcome,” said Valandina the Magnificent. She was an ancient looking elven woman draped in so much fabric that she looked more like a laundry pile than a person. The room was dark, lit only by a few candles that seemed to be places to maximize the shadows. His nose was assailed by a wide variety of incense smells.

“I can sense why you have come in here,” she said. Thrask tried to hide his scepticism. If she knew why he was here, she would have already fled. “You seek to reach beyond the veil, to contact someone who has passed on.” 

“Yes, my...” Thrask paused. Wendy was right in her assessment, it was most likely that this woman was a charlatan. No mage at all, simply someone taking advantage of the pain and ignorance of others. In all of Chantry history, no claimes of being able to contact the dead had proved to be genuine. But, if there was a chance she could reach someone who had passed on, he might finally find some peace.

“My daughter,” He said. Valandina the Magnificent nodded. 

“Yes… yes I see,” she said. She waved a hand over a bowl and it sprang to life with a glowing flame, it looked much like a wisp but carried the scent of pyrophite. “She is near, she has remained so for a while. She longs to go to the Maker’s side but wanted to say her final goodbyes first.”

The woman watched Thrask closely, assessing him as much as he was assessing her. When mags shifted their consciousness to the fade, they became less aware of the world around them, not more.

“She forgives you,” Valandina said. “She knows you loved her.”

Thrask felt a rage bubble up inside him. This woman was using the memory of his dead daughter for her own gain. There was a long pause before Valandina spoke again.

“It brings me great joy to reunite loved ones trapped on either side of the veil,” she said. “But I also have early concerns, if you would like me to continue the connection I will need a donation of ten copper pieces.”

Thrask had seen enough. He made a big show of searching his pockets before mumbling something about pickpockets and taking his leave. Brennan and Wendy were there to meet him.

“Well?” Brennan asked.

“She is no mage,” he said bitterly. “Merely an importer praying on the emotions of those who live here. This is your jurisdiction more so than mine guardsmen.”

With that, he went back to Wendy’s home to change back into his armor, leaving the guard to her work


End file.
